Abstract
Hypothyroidism is a common disorder, often with an insidious clinical course. It is more common in women and the prevalence increases with age.
Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (CAT) is the most common cause. The diagnosis is made using tests for TSH, FT4 (sometimes also FT3) and antithyroidal antibodies (preferably TPO-Ab); in addition, thyroid ultrasonography is useful.
The treatment is life-long but considerably easy and cheap, and well-treated hypothyroidism has an excellent prognosis. In many cases, the care for these patients can be provided by primary care physicians.
The reader can find detailed information in the recently published American guidelines (Garber et al. 2012).